Come Party With Me: Snow Picnic — Menu

I'm really excited for this weekend's snow picnic! Like any sort of picnic, all of the dishes should be made in advance. Fill a large thermo with hot tomato soup and serve in mugs at the picnic destination. Pack buttery croutons — they'll add a delicious crunch to the soup — in separate Tupperware. Make a giant mozzarella and red-pepper sandwich on a large baguette and cut into individual slices for serving. Store portobello mushroom salad in Chinese take-out containers and allow guests to top with croutons or prosciutto crisps. Supplement the menu with store-bought potato chips, crackers, or flatbreads. For these tasty recipes — perfect for energizing before a snowball fight — please

In a large saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the sliced onion and smashed garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and their juice, the water, heavy cream, sugar, crushed red pepper, celery seed and oregano and season with salt and pepper.

Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a spoon. Reduce the heat to moderate and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, cook the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter over moderately high heat until it begins to brown, about 1 minute. Scrape the browned butter into a medium bowl. Add the olive oil to the skillet. Add the diced bread and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until it is slightly browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer the bread to the browned butter and toss well.

Working in batches, transfer the tomato soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return the soup to a clean pot and rewarm the soup if necessary. Season the soup with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with the croutons.

Hmmm not so sure about the salad (maybe because I saw "Rachael Ray" hehehe).
I always eat soup with croutons, it's so much better and I love the two textures together. Sometimes I also add Swedish fried onions on top. They sell them at Ikea. Really good.

Hmmm not so sure about the salad (maybe because I saw "Rachael Ray" hehehe).I always eat soup with croutons, it's so much better and I love the two textures together. Sometimes I also add Swedish fried onions on top. They sell them at Ikea. Really good.